Friday, October 15, 2010

And the winners are...

Thank you so much for entering my giveaway--all 118 of you! I know it wasn't the biggest or best giveaway ever, but I am really happy that so many of you were interested. If only I could give each of you a gift... But, in a way you all gave each other the gift of a great reading list for any children in your life. Just take a few moments to read through the comments from the giveaway post and you will find a wonderful variety of favorite book titles from stitchers of all ages, from all over the world. I had never even heard of Enid Blyton before, but so many of my Canadian, English, and Australian friends recommended her books that I will definitely be checking her out...

My favorite comment was from my dear mother who reminded me of some of my favorite childhood books ("How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and the Babar books). At 83, mom is a new computer user and has taken to it like a fish out of water--she's even on Facebook (am I the last person on earth who doesn't use Facebook? I just feel like I spend way too much time online as it is between blogging and work). I'm so proud of you, mom!

I can almost tell how old you all are from the titles you suggested. Readers from my era (women over 50!!) seemed to recall reading Richard Scarry books, "The Jolly Postman," "Goodnight Moon," "The Velveteen Rabbit," "The Polar Express," and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to their children. Do these books look familiar to most of you?

Many of you also mentioned "Love You Forever"by Robert Munsch, which I also read to my own sons. It is a tender love story of a mother telling her little baby, then her toddler, growing son, and teenager that, no matter what happens, she'll always love him. The mother rocks him and sings to him each night:

"I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm living,my baby you'll be."

Well, later on in the book, when the boy is now a grown adult, his mother drives to his house, climbs up a ladder, crawls into his bedroom, picks him up, rocks him and sings the little verse to him in the middle of the night. At this point in the reading, my youngest son would always burst into fits of laughter--I mean the "tears rolling-down-your cheeks" type of laughter. And, of course, he got me laughing as well. It kind of ruined the "mood" of the story if you know what I mean, but I'll always remember those evenings way back when... At the end of the book, the adult man goes to visit his ailing and elderly mother, picks her up (eliciting even more laughter from my son), and begins rocking her and singing:

"I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm living,my mommy you'll be."

Not too long ago, I came across "Love You Forever" in my cupboard of cherished books I had saved from my sons' childhood. My youngest son came home from college on a holiday break and I showed it to him to see if he remembered it. When he came to the page where the mother is rocking her grown son...he began howling with laughter. Some things never change. And isn't that what makes family memories so special?

I found this touching video of "Love You Forever" on YouTube which will surely make you cry (and maybe even laugh a bit, when you reach that one part)!

Well, enough of that stroll down memory lane--I know what you're really here for is to see who won my giveaways. I drew names the old fashioned way; simply printed each one onto a slip of paper, threw them into a basket, and picked two lucky winners. So without further ado...drumroll, please:

Congratulations to Lynn and Edit! Please send me your mailing addresses and I'll get your prize packages off to you as soon as possible...

Thank you all for entering my giveaway, for taking the time to comment, and for being such great friends and sources of inspiration... I'll be back next week with a couple of small finishes (I hope!). Bye now...

Ah, Love You Forever is one of my favorites. Always makes me teary eyed and I'm not really a sentimental person! I didn't comment on the children's books before but I love them. I have saved so many of our books. There used to be stacks of books to read every day to the kids. I read practically the entire Harry Potter series to them out loud.

Congrats to the winners !Carol ! Thanks you for the video "Love you forever" ! I don't know this story but it is very beautiful and I have a good moment to watch it....Have a wonderful week-end !!!Hugs.

OMG!! I'm truly surprised and so pleased! I was just catching up with my blog reading. When I got to your post I was so enjoying reading about all the children's books that I wasn't in any hurry to check out the winner. When I saw my name I was so surprised! Thank you so much. I'm off to send you an email with my snail mail now.

Carol thanks for taking the time to share the stories. I've never read Love you Forever, but my niece is soon to give birth to a son and I would love to give this as a gift. And congraulations to the winners of your wonderful draw.

I've been catching up on blog reading a little bit and have just seen your last posts. Your latest finishes are just up my alley as I love fall stitching very much.I still have some of the children's books that I used to read to my children when they were little but they are all by German authors and I have no idea if they have ever been translated. BUt oh, these times are long past as my youngest finished university this summer. I'll keep those books and maybe I'll use them for future gandchildren ...Congratulations to the winners of your giveaway.

Welcome!

Welcome ~ I'm so glad you've dropped in for a visit! I love getting to know fellow cross stitchers from around the world, discovering new stitching blogs, and being inspired by your work. I hope you enjoy your visit today and thanks for taking the time to say "hello!"Carol